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How to make a Wi-Fi Hotspot in my house?

SXR

SXR

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 20, 2007
995
7
Netherlands
Hi Guys,

Because Im planning to get a MacBook ( Or an iPod Touch if I cant control myself ). How would I make a Wi-Fi hotspot in my house? Obviously I would need a Wifi eh , Box that sends out the signal, but is that all? Could you please shed some light on this.

Thanks! :) :D
 
SXR

SXR

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 20, 2007
995
7
Netherlands
twoodcc said:
do you just want wireless internet in your house? is so, all you need is a wireless router. that's it
Click to expand...

Yes I want WiFi in my house ( iPod touch and MacBook all have Wifi built in , so I can surf the net wirelessly yes.) Only a wireless router? No subscription with my service provider? I would think that i'd have to pay a monthly fee.
 
flopticalcube

flopticalcube

macrumors G4
Sep 7, 2006
10,456
186
In the velcro closure of America's Hat
SXR said:
Yes I want WiFi in my house ( iPod touch and MacBook all have Wifi built in , so I can surf the net wirelessly yes.) Only a wireless router? No subscription with my service provider? I would think that i'd have to pay a monthly fee.
Click to expand...

The router only redirects your wireless to an existing wired connection. You still need a wired connection (+cable/DSL modem) and a paid internet connection from your service provider.
 
SXR

SXR

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 20, 2007
995
7
Netherlands
flopticalcube said:
The router only redirects your wireless to an existing wired connection. You still need a wired connection (+cable/DSL modem) and a paid internet connection from your service provider.
Click to expand...

I have a cable connection. So you are saying , I have a normal 2 MBIT connection. When I buy a wireless router I could turn that 2 MBIT connection into fast WIFI for my MacBook , Ipod Touch?
 
J

josepho

macrumors regular
Mar 12, 2004
240
0
Surrey, England
SXR said:
Yes I want WiFi in my house ( iPod touch and MacBook all have Wifi built in , so I can surf the net wirelessly yes.) Only a wireless router? No subscription with my service provider? I would think that i'd have to pay a monthly fee.
Click to expand...

Well, clearly you will need a subscription to an internet service provider for the provision of the actual internet connection, but you should not need to pay any more for the luxury of having it wireless (assuming you have your own wireless router, and it's not been provider by the ISP).

Without an internet subscription, you could have a wireless network... but you'd really only be able to share files, etc. within the network, and have no external access. I get the impression this isn't what you're looking for, so you'll have to pay for the internet connection. :cool:
 
J

josepho

macrumors regular
Mar 12, 2004
240
0
Surrey, England
SXR said:
I have a cable connection. So you are saying , I have a normal 2 MBIT connection. When I buy a wireless router I could turn that 2 MBIT connection into fast WIFI for my MacBook , Ipod Touch?
Click to expand...

Well, the router will be able to broadcast at a lot more than 2Mb/sec, so yes, you will have "fast" (assuming you'd classify 2Mb/sec as fast) wifi for your compatible devices.
 
SXR

SXR

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 20, 2007
995
7
Netherlands
josepho said:
Well, the router will be able to broadcast at a lot more than 2Mb/sec, so yes, you will have "fast" (assuming you'd classify 2Mb/sec as fast) wifi for your compatible devices.
Click to expand...

Its not really fast but anyhow , I just buy a Wifi router, connect it with my cable connection and I will have Wifi. Thanks alot :)
 
winterdude010

winterdude010

macrumors regular
Feb 24, 2006
194
1
New York
SXR said:
Its not really fast but anyhow , I just buy a Wifi router, connect it with my cable connection and I will have Wifi. Thanks alot :)
Click to expand...

Please be aware that some cable providers (I personally know of Time Warner) do not allow you to use a wireless router unless you pay for wireless directly from the company. They set your internet to only work when connected to a "registered" computer. So if you have problems that arise due to errors that say stuff about the IP address, you may need to contact the cable company and get wireless directly from them....

But by the sounds of it, it sounds like you have DSL because your connection is 2 Mbps. Who is your service provider? A standard cable connection is usually 5 Mbps...
 
Aperture

Aperture

macrumors 68000
Mar 19, 2006
1,876
0
PA
winterdude010 said:
Please be aware that some cable providers (I personally know of Time Warner) do not allow you to use a wireless router unless you pay for wireless directly from the company.
Click to expand...

Wow, I'd hate that - I'm glad Comcast doesn't care. How much more per month do you pay for wireless?
 
SXR

SXR

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 20, 2007
995
7
Netherlands
winterdude010 said:
Please be aware that some cable providers (I personally know of Time Warner) do not allow you to use a wireless router unless you pay for wireless directly from the company. They set your internet to only work when connected to a "registered" computer. So if you have problems that arise due to errors that say stuff about the IP address, you may need to contact the cable company and get wireless directly from them....

But by the sounds of it, it sounds like you have DSL because your connection is 2 Mbps. Who is your service provider? A standard cable connection is usually 5 Mbps...
Click to expand...

I have a dutch provider. Im positive that I have cable , I just figured out its 2 Mbit because of the specs shown on their site. When the time comes, I will inform to see if I need to pay any extra fee's. Thanks for all the replys ;D
 
SXR

SXR

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 20, 2007
995
7
Netherlands
I dont think its ridiculous. They're just trying to get as much money out of you as possible.
 
garybUK

garybUK

Guest
Jun 3, 2002
1,466
3
SXR said:
How do you mean?
Click to expand...

Every network device has a 'unique' address in the format of xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
this is called a MAC address (Media Access Control Layer)

When ISP's register a computer so only that computer will work with the internet they register the MAC address of the computer.

Most routers now enable you to 'Clone' the MAC address of your computer so the ISP thinks it's your computer that's connected and not the router.
 
SXR

SXR

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 20, 2007
995
7
Netherlands
garybUK said:
Every network device has a 'unique' address in the format of xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
this is called a MAC address (Media Access Control Layer)

When ISP's register a computer so only that computer will work with the internet they register the MAC address of the computer.

Most routers now enable you to 'Clone' the MAC address of your computer so the ISP thinks it's your computer that's connected and not the router.
Click to expand...

Thanks alot. Thats very interesting ;)
 
W

weinrdog

macrumors newbie
Oct 25, 2007
24
0
o-HI-o
winterdude010 said:
Please be aware that some cable providers (I personally know of Time Warner) do not allow you to use a wireless router unless you pay for wireless directly from the company.
Click to expand...

I've been using my own wireless router (Netgear) with Time Warner (Cincinnati) for the last 4 years. No extra fees beyond the normal RoadRunner fees. I did have some problems right after I got my Mac because I had my wired PC set up to serve as an internet bridge for all other computers on the network. Once I changed that setting, I have had no problems connecting to the internet through any of my WiFi devices (PC, MacBook Pro, PSP, Dell Notebook) with or without the PC up and running.
 
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